With his mind in turmoil due to the unexpected visit from Supreme Elder Shen Tianzhu, Wu Huang returned to his room.
He set the servant disciple uniform aside and changed into comfortable clothes. Although the technology of this world was far inferior to that of his original world, at least the clothing and other aspects were varied enough for him not to complain too much. Of course, everything was quite basic and there were no logos or anything of the sort, so the most comfortable clothes he could find were a simple pair of pants and a light shirt that he could use for both training and walking around simply.
He let himself fall onto the bed and tried to relax his mind. He was extremely exhausted mentally.
Not only because he had never expected to stand before a Supreme Elder of the sect, let alone speak so directly and casually in front of someone of that level. It was like conversing with a politician in the middle of a dictatorship: an out-of-place comment or a simple misunderstanding could be enough for someone of her rank to make him disappear without a trace.
And that had not even been the worst part. If he had hidden the situation and trained the new disciple without reporting the use of those valuable resources, the higher-ups might have thought he had handled them under the table. That would not only ruin his reputation in front of his superiors. Perhaps there would be no immediate consequences, but the quality of the tasks assigned to him and the general attitude of those who knew about the matter could easily deteriorate. Although he did not care too much about his reputation, he had no intention of ruining it over a foolish mistake either.
"Luckily I reported it immediately and saved myself from that trouble..." he murmured, letting out a tired sigh.
Even so, he had considered a possible advantage: if they judged him incompetent for not knowing something so basic, perhaps they would withdraw the task and assign it to someone else. But, on second thought, the risks far outweighed that benefit. It was not worth exposing himself to so many problems just to rid himself of a responsibility. Fortunately, the Elder had taken his comment calmly and had left him in peace.
Wu Huang let himself drop onto his seat, closing his eyes for an instant. Only then did he allow himself to relax the tension he had been holding in since the beginning of the encounter.
While he was meditating on that, the sound of a knock on the door pulled him out of his thoughts. He stood up and opened it. On the other side were the head of servants and a girl who barely reached his chest, with eye-catching red hair and red eyes.
"I suppose this time it really is Hong Jiu'er," Wu Huang asked, pointing at the young girl.
"Of course. You know what to do, so I won't take up any more of your time," the head of servants said as he turned around to leave.
"Wait," Wu Huang stopped him.
"What is it?" the chief asked.
"Aren't you going to give me any additional instructions or advice?" Wu Huang insisted.
"That is not necessary. You are smart enough to know what to do or to figure it out yourself," he finally replied, and left.
Wu Huang sighed and looked at the girl.
"Well, you can come in," he said, welcoming her.
Hong Jiu'er entered slowly and looked around with curiosity.
"It's tidy."
"What did you expect? A messy room?" Wu Huang asked, a bit confused.
"Grandmother says men are messy and cannot keep their rooms clean once they are on their own," she answered sincerely.
Wu Huang could not help but roll his eyes and decided to put the matter aside.
"Anyway, my name is Wu Huang."
"Hong Jiu'er. A pleasure to meet you, Master," she said with a small bow.
"There is no need to call me 'Master.' I'm only going to teach you a few things and help you a bit. I have neither the qualifications nor the interest to be a true master," Wu Huang replied, dismissing the subject.
Hong Jiu'er, a bit confused, nodded.
"Then, what should I call you?" she asked.
"Senior Brother is enough for now," he answered.
"A pleasure to meet you, Senior Brother Wu," she said, making a small bow.
Once they had introduced themselves properly, Wu Huang asked:
"Well, now... what do you wish to learn?"
She tilted her head, clearly confused.
"Isn't that something you are supposed to decide?" she asked.
"While that is true, we can also start from a common point or something you like before addressing other topics," Wu Huang explained in more detail. "Do you want to improve your strength directly? Learn combat techniques, alchemy, formations, talismans... or something else?"
Hong Jiu'er, somewhat shy, did not know what to say. Wu Huang, understanding her confusion, could not help but frown and asked more directly:
"Do you even know what those things are that I mentioned? Did the sect teach you the fundamentals of cultivation?"
She shook her head.
Wu Huang remained silent for a moment. The answer was not only unexpected but also concerning. That meant she had no clear starting point. Teaching her advanced techniques without fundamentals would be useless, even dangerous.
He observed her more closely. Her posture was clumsy, her breathing irregular, and her gaze, though curious, lacked focus. It wasn't just ignorance; it was as if she had never received any real guidance on the path to immortality.
"Unbelievable..." he murmured to himself.
Wu Huang could not help but frown. Had they sent her directly to his door without even teaching her the most elementary things? It was problematic because depending on where he started, what he taught next would have to be adapted or even ignored entirely. But teaching her everything at once could prove overwhelming for her.
Furthermore, there was another, more subtle problem: if she advanced too quickly, her cultivation base would be unstable and it would bring her trouble in the future. Even if he managed to avoid any punishment for it, it would leave a bad taste in his mouth for having ruined another person's future by not taking it with the necessary seriousness.
After thinking about it for a moment, he decided to take a more indirect path.
"Alright, then... let's go. I'll show you around the sect."